There is a team in the National League that has one good hitter. One. That player has produced more value to the team than the batting order's next five best batsmen. Combined.
Of the 12 other everyday players with at least 100 at bats, not a single one has managed an OBP above .338. That particular player has a .348 SLG. Which puts him at about the midpoint on the team. Only two semi-regulars, besides the star, have SLG above .400. The second most prodigious offensive performer on this ragtag outfit is a platooned catcher with a .258/.337/.436 line, which fails to note that he's attempted five steals and slid into a tag each time.
The trio patrolling the outfield breaks out the big wood to the OPS tune of .730, .646 and .717. An average starting outfielder racks up a .790 OPS. Put into stats that your local sportswriter would understand, your standard outfield averages a .280 BA and 25 dingers. Our protaganists' triumvirate hits .230 with 12 homers.
Who are these goose egg collectors -- the chronically anemic Pirates? The feckless Orioles? Some Triple-A bottom feeders? The Detroit Lions? No, this battalion is in first place. By four games. With the leading run differential in the circuit.
Welcome to your 2010 San Diego Padres.
As you might imagine, Los Dads have some kinda pitching staff. Their top four starters, Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, Wade LeBlanc and Jon Garland are exploiting Petco's score-deadening qualities, with ERAs of .262, .274, .325 and .324 respectively.
Defense, the park and luck are collaborating to dampen those ERAs. In fact, advanced measurement techniques suggest that Garland and LeBlanc particularly are swimming in water that's over their heads. It's affecting the whole mound corps: all but two hurlers on the entire squad sport ERAs over 3.30. But the defense is part of the team's equation and San Diego isn't moving to Denver anytime soon, so don't bet the house (or maybe you should, considering how much you owe on it) on those numbers fattening up much as the season marches on.
Still, if you want to know how Adrian Gonzalez's team is winning at season's midpoint with a lineup of defensive replacements, look to the relievers. One after another, the Priests send to the hill a parade of fire extinguishers. Tim Stauffer's ERA is 0.39. Ryan Webb, 1.72. Closer Heath Bell is at 1.82 and he's fanning 12 per nine innings. Luke Greggerson, the first reliever into the game most nights, is throwing golf balls. He's relinquished four hits and one walk and whiffed more than 11 batters per nine innings. His K/BB ratio is an otherworldly 8.5. That's Luke, not fLuke.
Certainly, Bud Black's charges operate in a low-run environment. Petco has proven itself the most run-suppressant park in baseball over the last six years, dampening run-scoring by 20%. That's a huge factor and it explains a lot of the numeric fun we've had above. Nonetheless, this is a wretched hitting team living in the dead-ball era and a pitching staff that's carrying the load. Even accounting for the park, four of the eight regulars produce offense below replacement level.
So the question is, can San Diego remain perched atop the NL West, and if so, how? This isn't new: they had the best record in baseball over the last 62 games last year. If GM Jed Hoyer doesn't secure a decent bat, in the outfield optimally, can the Deacons continue to win 2-1 at a .600 clip into October? It's going to be interesting to see.
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